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Bridge_Ender

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Everything posted by Bridge_Ender

  1. Caley v St Johnstone, 1992... Only 9 years old at the time but still one of my all time favourite football memories. Coming back to 2-2, sensational stuff. It was by far the biggest crowd I'd been in up to that point, and we were at Telford Street most weeks. It's a completely different football world now to then. More choice, more TV, more exposure, greater demand, and options, on the leisure ££. It's almost pointless to compare and we'll never know what Caley would have achieved attendance wise. What we do know is that average CT attendances early on were higher than the combined average Caley & Thistle attendances in the final seasons, and that we compare favourably as a % of population attending (something in the region of 4.5% is standard, if I remember right), so with a population of 46,870 in 2012 anything over 2,100 is a bonus, perhaps?
  2. Ahhh, I didn't realise / wasn't aware they were one and the same. Cheers! Utterly shambolic from them. Good point re: kit sponsors ymip. Potentially a compensation claim or 2 being a lodged...
  3. Is the problem not more Cabrini rather than JD though...? I'd have thought that JD are waiting on delivery from the manufacturer and as such it's the delay from Cabrini causing the problem? What ever the situation it's shambolic and clearly not remotely good enough from all involved. Pleased to hear the club appear to be taking a firm stance on this.
  4. Great idea Scotty but sadly, due to a variety of long established reasons, unlikely to be something we ever see in Scotland. I know smaller clubs than us are supplied by Nike, Adidas, etc. and I believe the way that works is clubs basically pick an off the shelf design, in club colours, and badges/sponsorship are added. Could, potentially, leave us with the same basic design as a few other clubs but the supply chain is proven to be a lot slicker and organised than what we've experienced since, well, forever! Strips may even be available before the summer holidays! Not sure what the commercial deal would be compared to whats on offer from errea/carbrini, but I would suspect that a lower % of retained sales is better than no sales at all!
  5. Thanks for the answer CaleyD, a good explanation of ST policy. Didn't appreciate that abuse of u12 tickets was such an issue and the free ST was in response. Also agree that you can't please everyone!
  6. A completely unrelated and irrelevant example offered up to attack a different point to the one being made... What I was suggesting would be something akin to the socio membership that works so well for small clubs like Real Madrid, Barcelona and has been adapted by many English Premiership sides (albeit in a much watered down membership style format). You'll find no argument from me that football wages are obscene, but guess what? That isn't going to change until selling football on TV doesn't work for the media companies, and that isn't going to happen anytime soon. A player is worth what the market dictates he's worth, it's that simple, and no amount of bleating will change that. The bare facts are that if ICT want to continue to compete in the highest echelons of the Scottish leagues they require more finance and preferably in a self supporting way, i.e. not an insecure sugar daddy McGregor/Narden-esque arrangement. I look forward to a more relevant and constructive reply from yourself, including suggestions on how to address a funding shortfall. Developing youth to sell on is a long term, time intensive, high cost strategy which whilst highly commendable and certainly something we would all wish for is, IMO, not realistic to support the club. What was the first thing that happened after relegation last time? All the pro youth squad were released to cut costs, wasting years of finance, expertise, effort and time invested before it had time to bear fruit. I'd absolutely love to see another Christie come through, but the fact is he is the only youth player that I can think of that we've developed and sold in 20 years! In a perfect set up I'd truly love to see a strong community set up feeding into an elite youth program supported by qualified coaches and scouts developing players for the first team, but sadly this is Scottish football and it just ain't gonna happen.
  7. Charles, more details about the Players Fund that Partick have recently launched can be found here: http://ptfc.co.uk/news/2015-2016/may_2016/partick_thistle_player_fund Essentially it is as you infer above but where I think ICT are missing a trick is the demographic of our support. Historically a large number of Invernessians leave the area for education or work, often never to return permanently. To my mind this leaves a substantial number of childhood fans with an affinity to the club who would like to continue to support the club but for whom a season ticket or regular match attendance is impractical. I wouldn't aim such a scheme at those who currently attend games and buy tickets, they are already doing their bit, but at those who don't attend but still support. Back of envelope maths suggests something in the region of 10,000 such fans (Scottish Cup Final attendance versus average league attendance). If even 5% could be attracted to put £10 a month in on direct debit that's £5,000 a month/£60,000 a year. A not insignificant sum generated requiring little more than a direct debit form and some organisation. Yes, player wages are obscene and completely out of step with the wider world but if we all want ICT to remain at the level we have been then that's the market we have to compete in. The market which football operates within is simply not going to change, so we have to adapt.
  8. Free season tickets for u12's are a great idea, but clearly this doesn't meet the demands of fans like Cakeytiltheend. Not everyone can commit to a season ticket, either financially or just planning wise. Why not just extend it to u12's go free for all pre bought tickets, including match day sales? More chance of on the day/last minute decisions to go, parents taking a kids friend along as well, and so on.
  9. I tend to agree with the argument that the club is punching above it's weight financially, but that doesn't necessarily answer the question where the Christie, Mckay, Scottish Cup money has all gone. These were substantial windfalls, and undoubtedly some of it was used to plug the funding gap, but there must be something left over...? Unless the strategy is very much to save it for a 'rainy day fund', which I'd be OK with personally if it allows the club to remain competitive and not require the windfalls year on year. What I wouldn't be OK with would be had it been taken out of club in the form of shareholder dividends and such like, although there is no suggestion that this has happened. Where I do worry about the future is that the brick and mortar assets have now all been sold. As such the club cannot incur debts year on year and must break even over a 3/5 year period to keep the bank manager happy. It's achievable when things are going well, but is it sustainable long term? How important are losses, like the Alloa one, when you consider the missed revenue opportunity of a quarter or semi final in a National Cup? That is 50% of our additional earning opportunities over for the season, and it's only August! How much are we relying on these windfalls? How large is the disparity between operational costs and budgeted income? There are now no fixed assets upon which borrowing can be secured, should it ever be required. I don't intend this to be a criticism of those behind the scenes at the club, who are undoubtedly doing their very best, but there does appear to be a lack of a real professional who can energise the operation and start tapping into other revenue streams. I've floated a couple ideas (10 game season tickets & a fans players fund) which have been knocked down on here with the 'tried it 10 years ago, didn't work then' reason. That may well be so, and I'm certainly not suggesting that either of these ideas would be major money spinners, but everything in life has moved on from 10 years ago, why not try it again? Is there anyone inside the club who's job it is to offer ideas, contacts, initiatives etc.? Do we have a marketing/promotional department, at any level, with the remit to drive sales? One small example - I bought tickets for a Scotland U21 game at St Mirren through their website years ago and almost every other week I have an email arrive promoting community/tickets/merchandise/etc. I have no interest in any of it but I am aware of it going on and it's always struck me how you hear nothing like this from ICT, so another opportunity for customer engagement is missed. Stick on the annual delay on replica kit (it's absolutely unforgivable to miss the school holiday market, every bloody time) and, to me, it starts to look a bit substandard... We do some things great, social media and audio video content being two that things spring to mind, so it's not all negative by any stretch. There is just a lot of room for improvement IMO.
  10. History should never hold the club back and stop it moving forward, but the heritage of Caley & Thistle is an important part of the football story of Inverness and is certainly important enough to remain as the official club (trading!) name. Similarily, #ICTFC is just the result of changes socially and may well go out of fashion in a few years. The club shirt, letterheads, official communication, etc. should always bear the full club crest, IMO. It's the old first impressions argument. The badge looks great, is unique both in name (full) and design and as such is instantly recognisable. Social media, web content, etc. are all suitable for the ICTFC abbreviation and 'Pride of the Highlands' (However cringey, amateurish or generally rubbish it may be!). I don't see why it has to be either or, both have their place, but there should be a separation because, as said before, having 'ICTFC Pride of the Highlands' as the official crest is, to my mind, unprofessional and needlessly cheapens the overall identity of the club.
  11. No bubbles burst in the slightest Scotty, merely highlighting what I see as a positive initiative from a club with similar resources and circumstances to ourselves. All the revenue streams mentioned are clearly very important, and kudos to those who willingly spend in the club shop, but there is only so much merchandise someone can buy. Where I constantly feel the club miss a trick is tapping into the out of towners. Inverness has historically been a place where if you've grown up in the area often you have had to leave for education, employment, etc. There is a market there that is relatively untapped, that being 'ex pats' with an affinity to the club who won't buy a season ticket etc. but who would potentially wish to continue to support the club with £5/10/15/20 a month donation. Perhaps even develop it a step further and offer it as a club membership. Benefits could include offering access to tickets ahead of public sales, extra multimedia content/access to any future digital subscription service, a club shop discount, or similar low cost giveaways from the clubs perspective. Plenty clubs offer such plans and for many fans it's just a way of officially belonging and supporting their club, and for many that's reward enough.
  12. Sadly, for any players reading, not a helping hand for the Xmas party... A Partick fan was telling me about a fund that their club have recently started which allows fans to contribute directly to the playing budget - more details here. Essentially, you set up a direct debit that allows you to make a regular payment to help support/develop specifically the first team playing budget. It sounds like a decent idea to me, and something that those who live away from the area and don't (if ever) attend games could use to support the club in a meaningful way. It would surely cost very little to administer and may raise a few quid every season? As seen from the cup final there is a huge disparity between home attendances and a maximum interest level, say 10,000 fans in this case. If 5% of them contributed £20 on a monthly direct debit that could be 500 x £20, an extra £10,000 a month, or £120,000 p/a if you prefer!
  13. Can't see what all the fuss is about personally. Fairly small change, and to a system which many clubs have used elsewhere with success for many years. Should speed up access at the turnstiles for everyone as no queues build up as someone fiddles for change at the 1 cash turnstile. Personally I think the club should be applauded for trying to address the access issues on matchdays. Re: scanner technology, I have experience of these systems at festivals, concerts, etc. and they do work well. For a one off event the whole ticket and access package can be hired, but that's clearly not suitable for a football club. I would imagine the stewarding company the club uses would have contacts and insight into the pro's and con's, as well as costs, of such a system.
  14. I didn't make the game but presumably it was this one, given the response from an official channel.
  15. I could not agree more caleyboy. As an image for marketing, social media, etc. the new text is fine, positive even, as it merges the ICTFC brand identity to the official imagery. However, as an official crest for the club it has been ill thought out, cheapened by using the abbreviation and by adding a throwaway tag line to the banners. The 'Pride of the Highlands' slogan is cringeworthy enough but to include it on official club imagery is arguably disrespectful to other clubs in the region, not to mention appearing arrogant. Neither attributes that I would have associated with ICT before. I really hope this is just a mistake that can be rectified quickly (and a refund sought from whoever provided the advice!!) and the old, credible, badge reinstated ASAP.
  16. The new kits look great, really like seeing the stripes back. The badge redesign though... Not good at all. It looks amateurish, like a piece of fan art. A truly naff tagline on to an official crest dilutes the branding, uniqueness and identity to a level you'd expect from a street trader with a stall outside the ground. Really disappointed to see this move and hope that it is returned to the full title sooner (is it too late for this season?) rather than later. I completely agree with Scotty re: suitability on social media, etc. but absolutely not appropriate for a club crest.
  17. I think CB may have missed the point of OTB. It bills itself as the most petty and ill informed football show on the air, and lives up to it! It's irreverent style is no accident and is a welcome reprieve from the seriousness, and repetitiveness, of Scottish football coverage. Sure, it's not going to win many awards (although, if I remember right, it has done so in the past?) but I enjoy it when I manage to catch it. Where I would be critical is regarding the SportSound offering in general nowadays. Inarticulate ex-players on open all mikes, every discussion generally reverting to the 'glory days' (i.e. pre 1990...) and a general staleness. Don't get me started on SportScene either. Absolute amateurish, parochial, over cosy mince. I often listen to 5live on a Saturday and it really is chalk and cheese in comparison. Professional reporters combined with decent interviews and features, you'd scarcely believe it was from the same organisation. I appreciate that the budgets may be a little (majorly) different, but surely the producers themselves must wince at OAM whenever forgotten never was ex-footballer #23 utters the same standard cliche over, and over, again?
  18. Out of interest when have the club trialed a 10 game season ticket before? Personally it is not something I have been aware of in the past, although I have seen the 'half season' book advertised around Christmas, which is also a decent initiative. I just can't help but feel this is something of a missed opportunity given the large support we took to Hampden, and in indeed turned up on Thursday. Not everyone can commit either financially or time to a full season ticket. As for costs incurred, the cost of producing season books could be easily dismissed by the use of a membership number and a spreadsheet system. Think of it as more of a pre-payment card than a season ticket, if you like. 10 game ticket holders would just have to drop into the stadium on matchday or before and reference their membership number against the clubs ticket database. Perhaps the facility for such a system would exist via the existing eTicketing platform? I really don't see how that would make any huge additional administrative burden.
  19. C*unty introduce £175 10 game season ticket Our friends over the bridge have released details of a 10 game season ticket for £175. To me, this is a brilliant idea and would surely appeal to a lot of our central belt / offshore / shift working fans who cannot commit to a full season ticket. As someone who lives outside the area and works away I know that I would certainly buy one at that price. I did email the club about it a while ago and received a good response, but have heard nothing since. If even 200 people took that up that would be an extra £35,000 in club coffers. An extra player, or a couple of youth players? I'd expect a lot of out of area folk would buy one, even just to support the club, and at £17.50 a game it hardly matters if you miss one or two.
  20. Overall it looks like a fairly fair reflection of where a club is in general. Couldn't really argue that the facilities and set up of the clubs above us are superior to ours and likewise with those below us. Dens Park and Tynecastle being graded the same (Bronze) as Borough Briggs, Station Park or Balmoor? I don't pretend to understand that one!
  21. Great idea! Given the proximity to the Merchant City, and that's its early in the day, it could be worth thinking about a medium sized bar club that a pre match 'fan zone' could be set up in? I'm thinking somewhere like Maggie Mays, with club downstairs and large bar/restaurant upstairs, or O'Neills down that end of the city, places that would have no issues with youngersters and would offer food, entertainment, that kind of thing?
  22. Did Mike Newlands ever play a game with us? Came from Aberdeen, IIRC, with a very promising reputation back in the div 2 days
  23. The state of the stadium isn't great and I can't see how anyone can argue otherwise. If there is any rain it becomes a mess, especially at the Main stand corners and the West stand, which with it's collection of portacabins acting as kiosks and toilets just looks and feels messy. That said, until a sugar daddy or euromillions winner wants to develop the ground properly or build something new, what's the alernative? I seem to remember the North and South stands having a 10 year life (correct me if I'm wrong) when they were put up in the winter of 2004, which would indicate something may need to happen pretty soon with them! As far as attendances go, they are what they are and we're pretty average and in line with the whole population % thing and I can't see that improving much without Inverness doubling in population again.
  24. High ticket prices Saturation coverage of games on TV All seater stadiums
  25. Really, really, do not want Shiels anywhere near ICT. Massive chip on his shoulder and by all accounts a divisive personality. Not at all what the club needs to take it forward. Hartley would be a great appointment but maybe with an experienced no. 2 beside him, a la Robbo and Park? Not a negative comment on Hartley's ability, of which he obviously has plenty, more a recognition that we are a fair step up from Alloa. We've done pretty well with managerial appointments in the past, ignoring the blip of Brewster #2, so I've every faith the board will do their due dilligence and appoint the right man.
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